azdave

I'm lazy but I like a clean driveway. I would not do anything for a small oil drip on an engine approaching 300K except put a diaper on it and drive. My original 2003 WRX engine is at over 200K now but has a small drip. I fold up multiple layers of toilet paper or paper towel into a small square and place it at the drip point, held up with neodymium magnets or other clips/wires to keep it in place. That absorbs any drips between maintenance intervals and I put in a new absorber with each oil change. I know it's a ghetto fix but it works for me until it gets really bad (and then I get out the duct tape). Ha!

When I lived in the rust belt Midwest we only used Fluid Film by the gallons each fall. It was an annual autumn ritual in late September that we pulled each car into the garage and gave them all a good shot of Fluid Film misted anywhere we could snake a hose. It made a very noticeable difference over the years. I later moved to Phoenix and left all of that nonsense behind. I still use Fluid Film in the small rattle cans if I'm storing engine bits for the long-term.

A 10-amp fuse should be more than ample reserve for running the size pumps we use but the fuse is there to protect the wiring so don't run a 15 amp if the wire isn't rated for more than 10. My pump pulls about 4 amps. As for safety after a mishap, I often find it simpler to use an inertia switch to disable the pump in a crash. They are all over eBay for $10-$20. Just don't mount the switch where no one will ever think to look for it like Ford did for many years. In more modern vehicles, those impact switches are all part of the airbag/crash protection modules and can't easily be used like the style below.

Heater output instantly going on and off can pretty much only be caused by low coolant levels. Either you still have a big air pocket in the system or you are loosing coolant. When you completed the last water pump repair, did you have good heat for multiple days in a row but now the heat is once again intermittent? If so, you have to be loosing coolant somewhere and if it's not on the ground and not soaked into the carpet inside the car then are you burning it in a cylinder? I was going to suggest the same thing but be careful. If there is a head gasket leak, you could accidentally fill a cylinder with coolant and then the next time you try to start the engine it may hydro-lock and bend a rod. If you perform a pressure test and have any concerns afterwards that coolant might be leaked inside a cylinder, either manually turn the engine over several times slowly using a wrench on crank or pull the spark plugs before you ever touch the starter.

My first guess would be that the timing belt notches were rubbing a tiny bit on something but soon wore down so no noise after that. Noise from a bad bearing would usually get worse, not go away.

Yup. I know I've not invented something unique here. I'm just applying it here to hopefully get some better reliability and less noise. Filter before the pump? Certainly. I installed one of those when I installed the first new pump. The tank appeared quite clean inside when I originally drained it but no harm adding a pre-filter just in case. After the first few pumps failed (including one from an F-150 application) I began to wonder if the tank pickup tube feeding the pump was clogged (such as from sediment in the tank). I temporarily installed a low-range vacuum gauge on a T-fitting at the inlet to the pump so I could see if the pump was being starved of fuel and maybe that was causing them to become loud and fail. That was not the issue. I even cut open the first fuel filter after about 100 miles to inspect the pleats and found very little junk so I'm certainly getting plenty of clean fuel to the pump. I find great satisfaction in repairing old things, especially somewhat forgotten vehicles. We also have a 1987 Mazda B2000 and five 1965-66 Corvairs in our family fleet that all get regular use so not really something out of the ordinary for me to keep these on the road. Since I'm using cheap, off the shelf parts from Amazon and love to do electronics it's a fun project but certainly not something a normal mechanic would do, especially with a customer's car. I might do a quick block diagram to show the basics. If you've ever needed to control the speed of a small DC motor then you'll have done this all before. Here's a link to a video that shows pretty much what I did with the PWM controller.

I've had a spell of bad electric fuel pumps in the short time I've had my 87 DL SPFI and unfortunately, it also applies to some of my other classic cars as well so it's not an isolated issue with just one car. They just aren't making quality pumps these days, especially in the pressure ranges that are close to our needs. I found a pump that I trust so far but it puts out way more pressure than I need, which in my opinion, just makes the pumps loud for no good reason and wears them out even faster. I really hate to hear the pumps whining, especially when I have the turn signal blinking and the pump noise jumps up and down with each activation of the bulbs. I was not ready to pioneer an in-tank pump installation so I looked for a better way to skin this cat. My solution? I first installed a simple, fixed voltage 12-volt regulator so that the voltage swings were gone and the whining noise at least stayed steady, That was step one. The next step was a pulse width modulator (aka, DC motor speed controller) so I could dial down the pump power by using the duty-cycle setting while still feeding it 12 volts. The end result has been great. I now have a pump that I can barely hear with no more rising and falling pump whine when idling in a turn lane. Bonus feature is that the pump should last much longer as it's no longer trying to put out 50-60 PSI when I only need about 30 PSI for the regulator to maintain a steady 22 PSI at all engine speeds. Anyone else doing anything like this or am I the only nut case here?

I would first try to identify what is hitting the cat and smoking. I've wrapped fresh aluminum foil sheets (no fires) around or near parts like that and then did a short freeway drive to look for early signs of what fluid I'm dealing with. Could there be a pin hole or tiny slit in the CV boot where grease is flinging out but only when under high RPMS so hidden otherwise?

Sounds like you still might have some air in the system which could account for the recent cold/hot heater output but where did all that initial antifreeze go if you had to add 1/3 of a gallon and then top it off again a few day later? Keep driving and burping it and make sure the overflow hose is not sucking air instead of coolant each time the car cools off at night. Is the coolant level in the overflow bottle staying the same, rising or falling? The radiator hoses should become hard when hot as it is under pressure but if it was too much pressure, the cap would vent it to the overflow bottle. If you are able to keep adding fluid every few days at a regulars rate and can't see it visually leaking anywhere then you might have a HG issue but don't jump to quickly to that conclusion. I've had coolant leaks that were small enough to not drip on the ground but puddle and evaporate.

There are times where I have used tranny fluid as a manual flush (cheap Walmart brand) in a situation where I want to clean out inaccessible areas somewhat. I do so by removing the engine oil, changing the filter, pouring in a gallon of tranny fluid instead of motor oil and then manually running the oil pump with a drill motor. I do this until I build pressure in the galleys and then rotate the engine slowly so that all the bearing and passages get a good drink. This is a handy time to have a friend run the drill while you turn the crank by hand. I let it sit like that overnight and do the same thing over and over for several days while I work on other details. No rush. Let the tranny fluid dissolve some of the old oil deposits and swell the seals. Drain it when you are done and then open the engine as far as you can and manually clean and flush as you can. On the 240K miles EA82 I refreshed recently (did not split the case) I disassembled just up to the point of pulling the pistons. I then flushed the case internals with mineral spirits, brake clean, carb cleaner, etc. I soaked the loose lifters in tranny fluid after they were out. I used a drill press while the lifters were down inside a soup can and slowly forced the old oil out and the tranny fluid in. I let them sit like that over night and did that routine 3 more times over several days. Quite a bit of junk came out as they bled down. I installed them while still filled with tranny fluid and to this day have not heard a single lifter tap ever.

Seems like a great price considering most companies could care less about making parts for old Subarus. I'd probably buy in too if I had a gen one.

I don't recommend that either (without good reason) however, it would be completely within the safety limits of the tire if you did. My point in posting was to add clarity your two comments that at no time should hot tire pressures ever exceed max pressure indicated on the tire. It is more correct to say you should never exceed that pressure when the tire is cold but you don't have to worry about the pressure rise when the tire becomes hot while driving. So, back to the topic. Could the TPMS in the OP's situation be calibrated to a new range or is it a fixed setting that even the dealer cannot adjust? I do not know but am curious. I'm fortunate that my newest vehicle is over 17 years old so I don' have those TPMS devices but may someday.

Search for the same item on Amazon for better info about the pump. You might not get a better price but you will often find more honest reviews, Q&A section for buyers/users and photos from actual customers to help you make a decision.

Manufacturers allow for tire heating with an ample safety margin so if you inflate to the maximum pressure shown on the tire when the tread is cold it will not be a concern when you go driving later and the tire heats up. Of course most times, there is no need to run at the max pressure indicated on the tire. That decision depends upon the conditions you plan to encounter or loads you may carry. Good info here. https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=196

Thanks Captain Obvious! Rebuilding struts? There are some manufacturers that offer a service to refurbish their own older lines of struts but none of these that I am aware of. Could someone else rebuild them? Probably, but not at a price you or think is reasonable. The demand is far too low which is why you can't find much in replacements. Many of the parts I've found since I got my wagon are very old aftermarket stock manufactured 8-10 years ago that is still lurking in the basements of dirty parts warehouses. I still enjoy driving my DL but the day will come where the cost and effort to keep it on the road will exceed my limits and it will get parted out. Hopefully, someone else will drive their 3rd gen a few more years from the parts I offer up when that day comes. The best thing I found at the time I needed front struts was the Sachs mentioned earlier in this thread. I don't need the rears as the fell good and don't look that old. I'm not going to buy them "just in case" either.

I have not changed them out but someone before me did. I've only had this DL since last spring and have only been driving it for a few months. I've got under 800 miles on it since my purchase but it has 241K miles in total. I can check for part numbers if I see any on them. They feel fine so I won't change them out until I know there is an issue.

I just replaced the fronts struts on my 87 DL after an odd failure where one of them where it would retract but then lock in the compressed position for several hours. It gave me a low front left and a high right rear and rode really badly. If I jounced it up and down it would finally release back to normal ride height. I bought the same Sachs numbers you listed for the fronts and the labels show they were made on Mexico but I'm guessing many years ago based upon the amount of dust and dirt on the boxes. In my case these struts were not drop-in substitutes. The brake hose retainer tab was in the incorrect position on the right side strut and the spring perch on both is higher by about 1" compared to what was on my car when I bought it (which appeared to be correct for the application but not OEM). I ended up ordering a second pair from a different vendor thinking I had some factory mistakes on my first set but the second set had the same issues so I figured that is what I had to work with and did so. The lower barrel on all struts were a very tight fit into the collar clamp but by sanding off the powdercoat and weld blobs on the strut OD and fully sanding the socket ID of the collar, I was able to get them to just slip in after also wedging the slit open a slight bit with a flat blade chisel. The higher spring perch location was a bigger problem because the spring compressor I rented was pretty much at the compression limit getting the springs safely compressed almost an inch further to have enough threads exposed to get the nut onto the top. Those spring compressors are scary under that much tension. I probably should have found a shop with a better tool to do that job. As for the ride height, I actually am happy it sits a little higher in the front now. To me, it always looked a little nose down but now the wagon sits level and looks the part of a factory 4WD wagon. The ride is great compared to what I had of course. I have not done much to test them except some dirt roads and speed bumps so I can't comment on the real off-roading feel or action.

I guess I paid way too much for my 87 DL wagon if this 89 GL wagon with under 100K miles only bid to $1375. It had some issues but still. I was half tempted to bid on it just for a parts car but that would be a shame. https://www.ebay.com/itm/125499833935?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=8AKsYzVLSdC&sssrc=2047675&ssuid=JEXglpUgQ3a&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Have you tried a steamer like used for wall paper removal? I was quite pleased how it helped take off the 30 year old window tint and residue on my 87 DL. I found a used steamer at a garage sale.

Does this thread give any clues?

I primed mine using a drill press literally as an arbor press. I placed each lifter upright in a can of oil and then pressed into the dimple firmly for 20-30 seconds using a rounded rod chucked in the drill collet. I watched tiny air bubbles being forced out the bleed hole along with some old oil on each stroke. I did this until no more air was coming out. Maybe 5-6 strokes. This is a very slow process but it 100% assures that you have no air in the lifter and even better, you get a bit of a feel for a defect if one lifter bleeds down way too fast compared to others. I did this process on used HLAs that had been sitting for 14 years in the engine. I've not heard a single tick since the day I fired up the engine. I did new oil pump seals and other common lifter anti-tick tips too.

Sorry, but you are wrong. Even though all the cool kids may be doing it, swapping tags from one vehicle to another is very clearly a felony in every US state. There is no ambiguity about that. The new Arizona statute you mention only allows for removing and reattaching the same tag to the exact same vehicle for restoration purposes. It has always been a felony to move a VIN tag from one vehicle to another for any reason. It does not matter how old the vehicle is or if the owner intended to commit fraud or not. https://journal.classiccars.com/2022/07/22/new-vin-law-driven-by-barrett-jackson-goes-into-effect-today/ You'll obviously do what you want but I would encourage you to stop posting about it. Reality is, you have little chance of being caught until someone else owns the vehicle. If you never sell the vehicles, then you probably won't have any issues (unless the new VINs you are attaching aren't clean). In Arizona, if you buy a car from out of state it has to be inspected in-person by DMV or state police to be registered. If the inspector believes the tag has been altered or replaced, they impound the vehicle on the spot so don't suggest it's a trivial thing. I know from personal experience that it is not. Regards,

That's funny. You just stated on a public forum that you intend to commit a felony twice (as well as whoever is selling you the titles and tags).

My 87 DL came with Kuhmo Solus tires which I run in several other sizes on multiple vehicles. Here is a listing at Wally World for the 185-70R13. I've never had issues with any Kuhmos myself. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Kumho-Solus-TA11-All-Season-Tire-185-70R13-86T/45693068

I daily drive my 2003 WRX wagon but that's not a like comparison to a 2012-14. I just ticked over 200K miles a few month back on the original, untouched engine. Plenty of small coolant hoses have needed fixed through the years and I just replaced the center diff but I can't complain about engine or turbo reliability.